Braiding machine



Apnl 1910' J. A. MULLER BRAIDING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1939 4Sheets-Sheet 1 ua/m/ 4. Amz 0? ATTORNEY April 16, 1940. J. MULLER2,197,111

BRAIDING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Jflfl/V,4. Milli/f BY MAM ATTORNEYS l 16, 1940- J. A. MULLER BRAIDING MACHINEFiled March 18, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. -MAW A. MZ/ZZf/fATTORNEYS P 5, 1940- J. A. MULLER BRAIDING MACHINE Filed March 18, 19394 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 16, 1940 BRAIDING MACHINE JohnA. Muller, Passaic, N. J., assignor to United States Rubber Company, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 18, 1939,Serial No. 262,682

5 Claims. (Ci. 96-3) therethrough.

Most braiding machines can be divided into three general classes; thefirst class comprising machines which produce braids composed of twolayers of individual strands running in helical paths in oppositedirections progressively about and along the work, the second classcomprising machines which produce braids composed of in-- dividualstrands extending in adjacent parallel interlacing helical pathsparalleling the work and forming a sheath thereabout, and the thirdclass comprising machines which produce braids composed of two sets ofindividual strands extending in opposite interlacing helical paths aboutthe work to form basket or maypole type woven sheaths thereabout.

The braiding machines of my invention fall into the last of theseclasses of braiding machines and serve to produce "basket" or "maypoletype braids about the work passing through the machines.

work during operation of the machines.

Each

spool carrier extended perpendicularly from the fiat face of theguidemlate and a strand of braiding material extended from a spool onthe carrier to the free end of the carrier and from the free end of thecarrier inwardly to the center of braiding at the center of the machine.This arrangement placed an eccentric load upon each of the spoolcarriers and a binding between each carrier and its guideway whichrequired extra operating power at all times while the machine wasrunning.

This arrangement also caused the length of the strands between the freeends of the carriers and the braiding center to vary greatly as thecarriers operated in and out along their sinuous paths to and from theinnermost and outermost parts thereof.

A heavy and complicated slackabsorbing mechanism was necessary upon eachcarrier to care for the loose length of strand thus caused in order tomaintain a more or less uniform tension therein at all times duringopera-- tion of the machine. When the proper tension was not maintainedduring the braiding operation, twisting, kinking, and breaking of thestrands was liable to result. These slack-absorbing mechanisms wereexpensive to make and maintain, increased the loading on the spoolcarriers and the amount of power needed for operating the machine,materially. decreased the size of spools that could be accommodated bythe carriers and required extra power for overcoming the resistanceoffered by the heavy springs carried by each slack-absorbing device.While braiding machines of this class operated fairly well for somebraiding purposes, with more specialized types of braiding, such aswhere wire or other relatively heavy or still? materials were used,these machines failed materially to give satisfactory results and failedto produce the uniformly braided sheaths desired.

The braiding machine of my invention has largely eliminated these andother objectionable features of the earlier braiding machines of thisclass by providing two or more braiding-heads and a work conveyorcoupled with a source of power. Each braiding head comprises acylindrical housing encircling and supporting a composite guide platewhich is in the form of a zone or a portion of a hollow sphere orspheroid and by providing in this composite plate two similar, endless,sinuous, intersecting guideways extending generally circumferentiallytherealong. Two sets of equally spaced spool carriers are positionedwithin this hollow plate and are arranged to travel in oppositedirections in the guideways therein. Each carrier extends inwardly andnormally from the spherical or spheroidal surface of the composite plateat all times regardless of its particular location therein andaccordingly directly toward the geometric center of the sphere orspheroid containing the plate. The center of the sphere or spheroid isalso the braid-. ing center for the braiding head and the work uponwhich the sheath is to be formed extends through this central point andperpendicularly to the generally circumferential paths of the guideways.

Thus during braiding operations the spool carriers are always at aconstant distance from the braiding center and the free length of strandtherebetween always remains constant. The carriers oscillate back andforth as they travel along their respective endless guideways but thedistance from an individual carrier to the braidin center does not vary.Only the amount of material necessary for forming the sheath or braid 8is drawn from the spools on the carriers and accordingly no slack has tobe absorbed. No heavy slackabsorbing mechanisms are necessary for thestrands of braidingmaterial used in my machine. While a tension controldevice is used upon each carrier in my invention this is only for thepurpose of supplying the desired tension to the individual strandsaccording to the particular braiding material being used by the head andthe degree of binding desired by the sheath upon the work. Because thespool carrier and strand therefrom both extend in a straight line towardthe braiding center no eccentric loading is placed upon the carrier andaccordingly no extra drag has to be overcome when the machine operates.

An endless train of power transmitting gears extends around thecomposite guide plate and is positioned between the plate and the outercylindrical housing. This train is coupled with a source of power andserves to propel the spool carriers along the guideways during theoperation of the braiding head. The outer housing forms a protectivecasing for this train of gears and also forms the main supportingstructure for the entire assembly.

The compactness of each braiding head enables two or more to be placedin close proximity and in line, so that they may be operated together toform a plurality of sheaths upon the work at one time. These braidingheads are coupled to change speed gearing and a source of power so thatthey may be operated in synchronism or at relatively different speedswhen desired.

An endless work conveyor is also coupled to the source of power by meansof interchangeable gears, so that various speeds may be produced thereinwhich are relative to the braiding speed of the braiding heador heads.This conveyor supports and carries the work passing 45 through thebraiding head or heads and normally its speed is the same as the linealbraiding speed of the braiding head or heads so that uniformly close andtight sheath or sheaths are formed upon the work. However. saidinterchangeable gears are provided so that the conveyor speed may beincreased and the conveyor made to pull the work through the head andthereby increase the lay angle of the strand and produce a more openlybraided sheath when 'lesired.

This invention will be. more readily understood from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my invention showing a braidingmachine comprising two braiding heads and a belt conveyor coupled to asource of power; one of the braiding heads being broken away alongsubstantially the vertical longitudinal central plane thereof;

Fig. 2 is a transverse elevational view of one of the braiding headstaken substantially along the section line 22 of Fig. 1, but having atape reel and support therefor removed;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of my braiding headtaken substantially along the section line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a partial development of the sinuous guideway and carrierstructure shown in Fig. 3 75 as viewed from within the braiding head;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of one of the spool carriers used in mybraiding head;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the spool carrier, partly insection, taken substantially along section line 6-8 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatical view showing the extreme lateral positionsreached by the spool carriers and individual strands during braiding atthe true braiding center of the head;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatical view, somewhat similar to Fig. '7, butshowing how individual strands may be extended around a work guide forspecial braiding operations of the head; and

Fig. 9 is a modified form of-composite guide plate which may be used inmy invention.

The braiding machine of a preferred embodiment of my invention is shownin Fig. 1 and employs a main frame generally indicated by the numeral I.This frame is arranged to support two longitudinally spaced braidingunits or braiding heads 2 and 3, a source of power 4, and one end of anendless belt conveyor 5. The two braiding heads and the belt conveyorare connected to the source of power so that, the relative speeds ofbraiding of the heads and the lineal speed of the conveyor may be variedrelative to each other. The braiding heads 2 and 3 are similar andaccordingly details of construction and arrangement hereinafterdescribed may be taken to apply equally to either unit. The two headsare shown together for the purpose of iilustrating how a double braid orsheath and an intermediate separating cover may be placed upon the workat one time.

The braiding heads 2 and 3 are supported upon brackets 6 rigidlyattached to the main frame I whech serve to space and firmly positionthe braiding heads thereabove ,for clearance purposes. These bracketsare rigidly attached to outer casings or cylindrical housings 'I of thebraiding units 2 and 3. Each cylindrical housing I is of relativelyheavy construction and serves to support and position the assembledparts of the braiding head.

A plurality of studs 8 are evenly spaced circumferentially about thehousing I, are fixedly secured therein, and extend inwardly toward thebraiding center of the unit. Guide plates 9 and III are rigidly attachedto this cylindrical housing I by means of connecting bolts ll. Theseguide plates are in the form of zones or portions of a sphere orspheroid whose geometric center is also the braiding center I! of thehead. Carried by the inner ends of the studs 8, in fixed relationtherewith, are guide segments l3 which are rigidly keyed thereto asshown in Fig. 4 by the numeral ll. These guide segments are in the formof plates shaped as portions of the sphere or spheroid which includesthe inner surfaces of the guide plates 9 and Ill. Sinuous intersectingor interlacing paths or guideways l5 and I 8 are formed between theguide plates 9 and III and the intermediately located segments l3 whenassembled to guide the two similar sets of spool carriers I I and I8.Thus it will be seen that all points along the guideways l5 and I'B areequidistant from the braiding center I 2 regardless of the sinuouscharacteristics of the guideways so formed. The guide plates 9 and I0and the guide segments I! combine to form a composite guide plate whichis in the shape of a central ring portion or zone of a sphere orspheroid. The spool carriers l1 and I8 referred to above will be morecompletely hereinafter described.

These inwardly extending studs 8 are rigidly secured in place in thecylindrical housing I, in any desired manner, and mounted upon each stud8 between the housing I and the guide segment I3 is an anti-frictionbearing I9 clamped in place therebetween by the nut 2|. Carried by thisbearing I9 is a rotatable hub 22 upon which are mounted by bolts 23 anangular notched gear 24 and an angular toothed gear 28 so that bothgears rotate freely about the stud 8. The circumferentially spaced studs8, bearings l9 and hubs 22 locate the gears 28 so that an endlessintermeshing gear train is formed about the assembled plates 9 and I8and segments I 3. A driven gear 21 is bolted to the bottom face of theangular gear 28 located upon the stud 8 at the bottom and center of thebraiding head and is arranged to derive power from a driving gear 28 toactuate all of the gears 28 of the gear train in unison and therebyactuate notched gears 24. The notched gears 24 in turn propel the twosets of spool carriers l1 and I8 in opposite directions along thesinuous pathways l8 and I8, respectively, as indicated by arrows A andB, Fig. 4, while the head is in operation. Each notched gear 24 isprovided with a pair of diametrically spaced peripherial notches 29 forreceiving lugs or fingers 38 projecting outwardly from the base portionsof the carriers l'l. Each gear 241s also provided with a second pair ofdiametrically spaced peripherial notches 3|, intermediate the notches28, for receiving the lugs or fingers 32 projecting from the baseportions of the carriers l8.

Thus it will be seen that these carriers I! and I8, moving in theirrespective guideways l8 and I8, travel along a surface which is a zoneor portion of a sphere or spheroid whose center is the braiding centerof the braiding head i ndicated by the numeral l2, Fig. 1. The freelengths of the strands 33 between the carriers I1 and I8 and thebraiding center l2 always remain substantially constant regardless ofthe positions of the carriers during operation. The carriers oscillatelaterally back and forth as they move along the guideways l8 and I8during operation of the unit but only the amount of braiding materialrequired for forming the sheath is pulled from the spools thereon duringthis operation; as distinguished from the alternate tensioning and slackthat would exist if there were a variable distance between each carrierand thebraiding center.

A work guide 34 has been found desirable in actual practice and is shownin Fig. 1 located near the central transverse plane of the head which isalso the plane containing the circumferentially spaced studs 8. Thiswork guide insures braiding of the sheath at substantially the geometriccenter of the composite plate structure formed of guide plates 9 and I8and guide segments l3. The work guide 34 is securely but adjustably andreplaceably held in place by struts 38 attached to the forward edge ofthe plate 9.

The source of power 4 is composed of a driving motor 38 of conventionaldesign and a change speed gear structure generally indicated by thenumeral 31 for operating shafts 38 and 39 for the braiding heads 2 and3, respectively. This gear structure is such that the shafts 38 and 39may be operated at the same speed or at different relative speeds as theparticular braid being formed may require. The power shafts 38 and 39'are supported in place beneath the units 2 and 3 by bearings 48 and arearranged to drive the gears 28. Also coupled to the shaft 38 is aflexible coupling 4| which is provided with circumferentially spacedholes 42 for the insertion of a lever 43 so that the head 2 may beturned by hand when it is desired to install, adjust or replace movableparts thereof. A similar hand operating means may be employed for thebraiding head 3 for a similar purpose, if desired.

An additional shaft 44 extends from the coupling 4| to a worm gear 48for operating the conveyor 8. The worm gear 48 meshes with a pinion gear48 mounted upon a shaft 41. Also mounted upon the shaft 41, and a shaft48 are a pair of gears 49 and 88, respectively, which may be replaced byanother pair of similar gears but of different ratio when it is desiredto change *the relative operating speed of the conveyor 8.

An endless conveyor belt 8| is arranged to run upon the sprockets 82,one of which is keyed to the shaft 48 for driving purposes. The remoteend of the conveyor (not shown) is also provided with a similar sprocketfor supporting the endless belt in place.

A tensioning device is used in conjunction with my conveyor 8 forproperly adjusting the tension of the conveyor belt 8|. The belt passesover an idler sprocket 83 of the device'which may be moved by screwmeans 84 to adjust the tension thereof. The top run of the conveyor belt8| is positioned so that the work 88 bein fed through the head 2, in thedirection of the arrow 0, rests upon the belt and may be fastenedthereto, if desired, and conveyed or pulled thereby depending upon thelay angle desired in the braid being produced by the head.

As shown in Fig. 7 the braiding head may be operated without a workguide by synchronizing the speed of braiding of the unit with the speedof travel of the work passing therethrough so that the braiding center88 remains at the center of the head and the length of the individualstrand is always the same; even in. the extreme lateral positions asindicated by numerals 81 and 88. However, in practice the work guide 34(Fig. 1) is generally used and helps to insure the proper operation ofthe unit under all conditions.

It may be seen from Fig. 8 that when a work guide 89 is used the speedof the work 88 passing through the headmay be made greater than thespeed of braiding of the head which will draw the strands 88 around thework guide 88 and increase the lay angle thereof and will draw thecenter of braiding 8| away from the center of the unit and therebyproduce a sheath having a somewhat open mesh. Dotted lines 82 indicatehow the strands and braiding center may be pulled laterally to increasethe lay angle and produce an exceptionally open braid or sheath whendesired by merely increasing somewhat more the lineal speed of the work.Braiding conditions can thus be controlled by the speed at which theconveyor with the work moves relative to the speed of the braiding head.It will be seen that under all such conditions of operation asubstantially uniform length of strand passes from the carrier aroundthe work guide and to the point of braiding regardless of the distancethe braiding point may be pulled to one side of the center of the unit.Since the conveyor and braiding heads are geared together theirpredetermined relative speeds do not vary during operation of the unitsand accordingly a very uniformly braided sheath may be produced.

All of thespool carriers used in my braiding head are similar inconstruction to the spool carrier I1 shown in detail in Figs. and 6. Thecarrier I! has a base portion I8 composed of two circular flanges II andI2 which are interconnected by a bridge bar or guide bar I3. Projectingfrom the bottom of the flange I2 is a lug or finger 32, previouslyreferred to. The bridge bar 13 is in the form of a thin but relativelywide and rigid connecting member between the flanges II- and I2, isarranged to travel in the guideway I5, and is narrowed at its oppositeends to fit or accommodate the curvature of the guideway as indicated atI4 (Fig. 4). The flanges II and 12 are provided with faces I5 and i8which are bevelled to engage the opposite faces of the guide plates 9and I8 and the guide segments I3. The portions l1 and I8 of the -fiangesII and I2, between bevelled edges 18 and '76, are undercut to preventbinding between these flanges and parts of the plates 9, I8 and segmentsI3.

An upstanding inverted U-shaped frame 88 is rigidly carried upon theflange II of the carrier I I and is arranged to support a spool 8| forbraiding material and a tension control device generally indicated bythe numeral 82. The spool 8I is rotatably retained in place in the U-shaped frame 88 by a removable pin 83 which is arranged to fit inapertures 88 and 85 in said frame. A swinging lock bar 86 is attached toone side of the frame 88 and is provided with a notched portion 81 whichstraddles a narrowed portion of the pin 83 and serves to retain the pinin place during operation of the carrier. A spring 88 serves to biasthis look bar and prevent accidental displacement ofthe pin 83.

The constant tension control device 82 is composed of a swingingbell-crank lever 89 having at its free end a brake shoe 98 arranged toengage the peripheral surface of the strand 33 of flexible materialwound upon the spool 8| and thus tends to hold the spool againstrotational movement until a predetermined pull is exerted upon thestrand 33. The opposite end of the bell-crank lever 89 is pivoted upon abar 9i carried in the U-shaped frame 88 and an intermediate portion ofthe lever is provided with a connecting pin 92 to which guide rods 93are pivotally attached. The free ends of the guide rods 93 fit intoapertures 94 in the bite portion of the U-shaped frame 88 and springs 95fit around these rods and bear against the bite portion and thereby tendto force the bell-crank lever 89, and accordingly the brake shoe 98,into engagement with the peripheral portion of the strand of flexiblematerial wound upon the spool 8i. A limiting rod 96 is provided acrossthe frame 88 beneath the intermediate portion of the bell-crank lever 89and merely serves as a stop member to limit the inward movement of thelever 89 when the spool 8| has been removed from the structure.

Also located in the bite portion of the U- shaped frame 88 is areplaceable guide eye 91 through which the strand 33 of flexiblematerial passes when being drawn from the spool on the carrier to thepoint of braiding of the head The guide eye 91 is keyed or otherwiseretained in place in the U-shaped frame'88.

Dotted lines are shown in Fig. 6 to indicate a position that may beassumed by the tension control device 82 when a comparatively full spooloi flexible material is being used upon the carrier. The arrangement ofthe parts of the control device is such that the braking action thereofplaces a substantially uniform tension upon the strand 33 being unreeledand fed from the carrier I! at all times regardless of the amount ofmaterial wound upon the spool.

I have shown in Fig. 1 a support 98 carried upon the housing I andarranged to locate a roll of tape 99 directly over the work 55 beingpassed through the head. Carried by this support is a spring pressedtensioning roller arm I88 for holding the tape in place against thework.

When it is desired to separate individual layers of braid being placedupon the work by separate braiding heads, the tape from the roll may befed beneath the second layer as it is being formed about the work. Thespring pressed roller arm I88 tends to hold this tape in a smoothcondition and the braiding action of the second sheath automaticallywraps the tape around the work while the braiding operation continues.

Fig. 9 of the drawings shows a modified form of a composite guide platethat may be used as a part of my invention. This composite guide plateis in the form of a zone or portion of a sphere or spheroid andcomprises guide plates MI and I82 and guide segments I83 so positionedthat two endless, sinuous, intersecting guideways I84 and I85 are formedtherebetween for carriers I1 and I8. This composite guide plate issimilar to the guide plates 9 and I8 and guide segments I3 of mypreferred embodiment shown in Fig. 1, except that it is located at oneside of the central plane of the sphere or spheroid instead ofsymmetrically of the central plane thereof, as is the case in mypreferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that this compositeguide plate could be formed of any portion or zone of a sphere orspheroid and when so formed all portions of the guideways therein wouldbe substantially equidistant from the geometric center" thereof.Accordingly strands of braiding material which extend from the carriersupon the inner face of such a composite guide plate would always be at aconstant distance from the braiding center thereof and only the amountof material necessary to form the braid would be drawn from the spoolsthereon.

When it is desired to place my braiding head 2 in operation the carriersI1 and I8 are provided with spools M of flexible material and thestrands 33 thereof are brought to a common braiding center I2 which isthe spherical or spheroidal center of the guide plates 9 and I8 andsegments I3 and are anchored to the work 55. As the source of power 4starts to rotate the power shaft 38, the gears 21 and 28 areconsequently rotated. Since the gear 21 is fixedly secured to the bottomangular toothed gear 26 its rotation actuates all of the intermeshingangular toothed gear 26 of. the gear train positioned circumferentiallyabout the guide plates 9 and I8 and guide segments I3 and within thecylindrical casing I of the unit. The rotation of the successive gears26 are in opposite direc-.

tions. Each gear'28 of the train of gears will in turn rotate itsrespective notched gear 24 in unison therewith. Notched portions 29 and3| of each notched gear 28 will engage the extending lugs or fingers 38and 32 upon the bases of the carriers I1 and I8 and thereby propel sameabout their respective guideways I5 and IS. The carriers I1 and I8 movein opposite directions and cross each others paths as they proceed alongthe guideways. When the individual carrier", or l8, (Fig. 4) has beenmoved along the guideway to the central transverse plane of the head 2by the notched portion 28 or ii engaging the lug 3| or 32 the associatednotched gear continues to rotate while the carrier disengages therefromand continues in the direction of its guideway. At the time of thisdisengagement the notched-portions 28 or SI of the next successivenotched gear moves 'into engagement with the projecting lug or finger3|! or 32 and thereby continues to actuate the carrier along its sinuouspath.

It will be seen that such an arrangement, moving every other carrier inone direction and the remaining carriers in the opposite direction,causes the carriers to successively cross each others paths and therebyproduce a braiding action of the well known basket or maypole type.During operation the distance between each carrier and the center ofbraiding of the head remains constant and since the braking action orresistance offered by the tension control device also remains constant,a constant tension is always maintained upon each individual strandhelping to form the braid. No complicated slack-absorbing mechanism isrequired for the strands being fed from the carrier to the work. Thetension control devices are required only for givingthe correct tensionto the strands according to the material being used to form the braid.This uniform tension placed in each individual strand is such that'auniformly close and tight braid may be formed by each braiding head ofmy invention. The braid may be formed as tightly as desired about thework and this may be directly controlled by the tension control deviceslocated upon the individual oarriers of the head.

The pull on each strand is always in a direct line with the carrier andthus no eccentric loading of the carrier, such as would cause binding inthe parts thereof, is created and only a minimum of power for operatingpurposes is required.

The control of the relative speeds of two braiding heads 2 and 3 and theconveyor enables me to place uniformly braided sheaths of likecharacteristics upon the work at one time regardless of the differencein size of the individual superimposed sheaths and enables me at thesame time to control the lay angle of each sheath.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with thespecific details of preferred embodiments thereof, it must be understoodthat such details are not intended to be limitative to the inventionexcept insofar as is set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. A braiding head comprising a composite guide plate comprising aplurality of guide elements so shaped and positioned as to form a zoneof a spheroid and a pair of endless, sinuous, intersecting guidewaystherebetween, and supporting means for said guide elements arranged tosecurely retain said elements in position in said braiding head, saidsupporting means comprising a load carrying housing encircling saidguide plate and a plurality of spaced studs extending inwardly from theinner surface thereof, portions of said housing being relatively spacedoutwardly of said guide plate whereby an endless enclosedcircumferential gear chamber is formed therebetween.

2. A braiding machine comprising guiding plates having two endless,sinuous, intersecting guideways formed therein and having all portionsthereof equidistantly spaced from a common center, sets of spoolcarriers positioned in said guideways and arranged to operate inopposite directions therealong, an endless series of intermeshing gearslocated outwardly of and adjacent said guide plates and operativelyassociated with the spool carriers for propelling the carriers of bothsets simultaneously, and a generally circular load carrying framepositioned outwardly of said plates and gears and having means forsecuring said plates in relatively fixed relation, said frame and saidguide plates jointly forming an endless enclosure for said gears andadjacent portions of said spool carriers.

3. A braiding machine comprising a load carrying main frame ofsubstantially circular shape in transverse cross section and providedwith continuous inwardly directed flanged portions at its opposite openends, a composite guide plate having the shape of a zone of a spheroidpositioned within the main frame, said guide plate having two endlesssinuous intersecting guideways so formed in said plate as to divide theplate into two end sections and a plurality of intermediate sections,each end section having a flanged portion engageable with one of theflanged portions of the main frame, a plurality of relatively fixedstuds extending radially from.the inner surface of said main frame, andadapted to removably secure said intermediate sections in fixedposition, sets of spool carriers positioned in-said guideways, and powertransmitting gears mounted upon said studs between said intermediatesections and the main frame and operatively associated with said sets ofspool carriers for propelling said sets in opposite directions alongsaid guideways, said main frame and said composite guide plate togetherforming an endless enclosure for said transmission gears and adjacentportions of said spool carriers.

4. A braiding machine comprising a hollow rigid annular supporting framehaving the inner wall portion thereof conforming substantially to theshape of a section of a sphere, said inner wall portion being dividedinto two annular end sections and a plurality of intermediate segmentsspaced therefrom so as to define therebetween a pair of endless sinuousintersecting guideways having all parts thereof equidistantly spacedfrom a. common braiding center, two sets of spool carriers positioned insaid guideways and arranged to travel in opposite directions therealong,a plurality of inwardly extending studs secured to the outer Wallportion of said frame and supporting at their inner free ends saidsegments in fixed positions relative to said end sections, and a set ofoperatively interconnected actuating gears for said spool carriersrotatably mounted upon said studs between the inner and outer wallportions of said frame.

5. A braiding machine comprising a rigid unitary annular housing havinginwardly extending flanges formed at the opposite open ends thereof, aplurality of uniformly spaced studs projecting radially from the innersurface of the housing, a pair of flanged annular guide platespositioned within the housing and having the flanges thereof detachablysecured to the inwardly extending flanges of said housing, a series ofguide segments secured to the free ends of said studs and positionedbetween said guide plates so as to form therewith and with said housingan endless enclosed gear compartment, the adjacent edge portions or saidplates and said segments being spaced relative to each other and beingequidistantly spaced from a common braiding center so as to deflne apair of endless sinuous intersecting guideways, a plurality ofintermeshing gears located within said compartment and rotatably mountedupon said studs, and a set 0! spool carriers operatively associated withsaid gears and arranged to travel along said guideways, said spoolcarriers at all times during operation oi said machine remaining aconstant 6 distance from said braiding center.

. JOHN A. MUILER.

